By Attorney Jonathan Emord
December 6, 2010
Tyranny and hypocrisy are inextricably intertwined. The emperor expects his subjects to abide by a code of law that he himself transgresses. That is the legacy of our tyrannical Food and Drug Administration. A few choice examples illustrate the point. The examples reveal FDA to be invested with far too much power and provide empirical support for passage of the Congressional Responsibility and Accountability Act and the Health Freedom Act, both introduced by Congressman Ron Paul.
In the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, Congress included a provision that exempted from the definition of “labeling” independent publications that contained discussions of the effects of nutrients on disease. Congress intended to permit companies that sold dietary supplements to distribute such publications to consumers along with supplements so the public could be edified concerning the effect of nutrition on disease. Once the DSHEA was enacted, however, FDA rendered this provision unenforceable by holding that even if independent publications were exempt from the definition of labeling, FDA would still prosecute dietary supplement companies that distributed them. It would do so on the theory that the publications were evidence of an intent to sell a dietary supplement for the treatment of disease (i.e., to sell a supplement as a drug without FDA approval). Consequently, while Congress envisioned this provision as one that would fill the market with science capable of educating consumers about the potential of nutrients to affect disease, independent science remains locked out of the market by an FDA that views itself as above the law.